Blog Post

Atelier Argentine has been in my hood for years. It’s a tasteful mix of glossy modern and industrial. I am fully aware that this decor concept is no longer unique, but the way they have done the design is to be noted. On the bar front the design is industrial with a brick loft feel and the resto side the decor is more chique and unique. Had I not warned you about their interior design choices, you may have envisioned over-varnished barn wood tables with a cold steely airplane cable light sculpture or something of the sort!

Restaurant anniversaries are among foodie socialite favorites. 2nd year anniversaries are notoriously fun because most restos do not survive after the first year of an investor’s cash is gone! Making it to your second year means that you were able to make it work in a very competitive market. To be especially fun, they generally involve 3 of the elements one needs to want to stay at a venue for over 1 hour: good music, food and drinks. EL SEGUNDO CUMPLEAÑOS had all 3! An Authentic Argentinian theme welcomed us right away with ponies and a promising menu of mixology magic and finger yummies. Some really nice loungy beats by Dj Abeille (Mitsou’s sister who has such a cool dj logo!) weaved into the crowd conversations and for once at an event, it was actually easy to talk to people without yelling.

I stayed 2 hours (marker of event success for the A.D.D!) and I can list with ease my 3 most memorable discoveries from Atelier Argentine’s offerings. Kale pakoras? I am not sure what they were but they were deep fried and made of kale, the ladies like myself were quite convinced that the kale healthiness factor overrode the deep fried unhealthiness 😉 The Disco Sour martini was yummy! With so many drinks to choose from, I did a little market research first. I asked a handful of people if their drinks tasted as good as they looked. For many of them like the fancy looking mojitos the verdicts came back so-so. I kept asking around until I landed on many happy faces holding this elegant orange drink. As an existing fan of the other sours, bitters (and anything that looks like Lauren Bacall would have sipped it) the third most memorable thing was possibly the comfiest couch in the world. This may seem silly for gentleman but you try networking for 2 hours in high heeled boots!